Three
Hope for the Future
We found ourselves ambushed and surrounded, the Empress gets up from her throne and walks over to us, Seth and Julie soon followed her. "I'm impressed you were able to find my castle and Earth Prime," she said.
"Nothing has changed, your highness. On behalf on every multiverse, we must order you to surrender with immediate effect," Legion ordered.
The Empress then becomes enraged by what he said. "You dare order me around. You sound more like your great-grandfather," she yelled.
"It doesn't have to end in violence. I'll promise to find your people a place they can call home. I heard what happened to your homeworld and I'm sorry for your loss," I said.
"You sympathise with her than me. You haven't changed at all, Tennyson," Julie said.
"Once we wipe you two out. We'll destroy your Earth to make your friends suffer," she said.
"Split up. I'll handle the Empress. You'll deal with Julie and Seth. This isn't the time to argue, go!" he said. We began to fought, back in the lab, Rex, Zak and the Mighty Rider were assembling a Universal Gate.
"I have a question. How does a prime portal work because I never heard of one?" Rex asked.
"In theory, a prime portal allows portals to open without using a device or any source. In other words, we're going to open a whole bunch of portals remotely. Luckily, my gauntlet contains five terabytes of coordinates," Alonso answered.
Alonso plugs his gauntlet into the console and uploads the coordinates. "I have to admit, this is bit crazy. But, given that we pulled off the impossible before. I see no reason to stop," Blake said.
"Will there be any time to do a small scale test?" Zak said.
"Please, in my books. There's no such thing as a small scale test. But I would like to know if there's any consequences to what we're about to pull off," the Mighty Rider wondered.
At the castle's entrance, Carter, Dania and Deviation arrived at the entrance to discover it's locked. "Great, it's locked," Carter said.
"One moment, accessing Elder One network hub. It looks like your friends have a plan to deal with the Elder One threat. While Solaris and Dr. Nexus still have the Hyperion," Deviation said.
"That's great and all. Do you know what's happening in the castle?" Dania said.
"This is not good, Ben and Legion have engaged the Empress and her servants in a duel," it answered.
"We better hope Ben has put aside his feelings. Can you open the gates?" Carter asked.
"Accessing, the castle operates on a different network. One moment, I've gained access. Opening castle gates," it answered.
The gates opened. "You two go on ahead. I'll head over to the lab," Dania said.
Carter and Deviation rushed on into the castle. Back in the throne, Legion and the Empress were engaged in a duel, while I engage Julie and Seth in a fight. "You'll pay for all your lies, Tennyson!" Julie yelled.
"I admit, I've made mistakes, but I'm not perfect." I activated the Burst Mode. "However, I'll do whatever it takes to save you," I said.
Back in the lab, the Mighty Rider and Rex have finished putting the touches on the Universal Gate. "That should do it. How do we open a prime portal?" the Mighty Rider asked.
"A normal Universal Gate portal is coloured blue. But a prime portal is coloured green. So, in order to open a prime portal, we must a normal Universal Gate portal." Alonso opens a portal. "Let's see, reverse the polarity and then inverse it and it should turn green. Right on, now to program the coordinates of every multiverse into the computer," Alonso answered.
He connects his gauntlet to the computer and uploads the coordinates. "This is your first time doing this, isn't it?" Blake asked.
"Yes it is. I've read the theory work about prime portals carefully. One slip up and all of reality will be destroy. Coordinates are uploaded and portals should start opening up in corner of every known multiverse. There we go, onto the next part of this ingenious plan. Program the Star to implode," he answered.
"Wouldn't a normal explosion work?" Superboy asked.
"I would like to think so, but since this is Earth Prime. I'd rather not, given that it'll be destroyed along with everything else if we trigger an explosion," he answered.
"Also, Earth Prime is beginning of everything," Blake said.
"Right, I'll program a timer. It should give us some time to escape Earth Prime," he said.
Dania then arrives. "There you guys are. I got some bad news," she said.
In the hallway, Carter and Deviation felt tremors throughout the area. "That's not good," Carter said.
"No its not. We need to hurry." Deviation and Carter burst into the throne room. The other Elder Ones notice them and they ambushed them. They soon fought them off. "I have a plan to save Julie," it said.
"I'll keep these guys busy," Carter yelled.
Carter begins to fight off the Elder Ones, while Deviation rushes in to where I was fighting Julie and Seth. "Activating Julie override protocol 70980. Begin cure sequence," it said.
Julie stops fighting as she begins to feel pain. "What gives?" I asked.
"I give. I know you still have reservations about me after what happened during our last encounter. But right now, I'm Julie's hope for a cure," it answered.
Seth lunges in to attack Deviation, but I intercept the attack. "I'll keep him busy. Just focus on curing Julie," I said.
"Curing process is at fifty per cent. Begin restoring memories." Deviation then begins to restore Julie's memories. "Almost there. Activate cybernetic disintegration sequence, it should get rid of any cybernetic implants," it said.
Julie then returns to normal and I rushed over to her. "Thank you, but you're with Eon. Why would you turn against your own creator?" I asked.
"When Rex and I fought on Galvan Prime, he used his powers on my and it caused the programming constraints Eon programmed into me to be overridden. In other words, I became free," it answered.
"And for that, you'll pay for treachery, android!" Seth yelled.
He goes in for the attack. Back at the lab, Blake programs the timer into the computer and looks at the monitor. "The timer is set. We got ten minutes until the Star implodes," Blake said.
"Portals have been opened on every multiverse accounted for. Once the blast is transmitted to a multiverse, the portal should close automatically," Alonso said.
"Right then, we're done here. Time to get the heck out of here," Zak said.
Everyone left the lab and headed outside. "Dr. Nexus, are you reading me, over?" the Mighty Rider asked.
"Loud and clear. We still got the Hyperion, on the plus side, we got transportation to get us back to our Earth," Dr Nexus over the radio.
"Great, prepare to teleport everyone onto the Hyperion. I'm going after Ben and the others," he said.
The Mighty Rider heads over to the castle as the others were teleported onto the Hyperion. Back in the throne room, Deviation fights Seth off. "Can you stand?" I asked.
"Barely, I don't feel like myself," Julie answered.
"I'll get her out of here. Just make sure you three end this quick," Carter said.
He picks Julie and they head out of the room. Legion sees what's going on and the Empress uses her telekinesis to throw Legion across the room. She leaps up into air and lands in front of the exit, blocking Carter's escape. "Now you'll die for your interference," she yelled.
The Empress gets ready to stab Carter. All the sudden, Deviation swoops in and takes the blow. I was shocked to see what happened. "Deviation!" I yelled.
It collapses onto the floor. "Hmm, pathetic," she said.
I rushed over to him. "Why, why did you do it? We don't know each other?" I asked.
"When I was first activated all those years ago, my mandate was to protect Julie at all costs. When she died, Eon's programming replaced my original program. Then, Rex came and freed me. So, I did what I was meant to do. Protect Julie and save her," it answered.
"Thank you," Julie said.
"My pleasure. I know you lacked the willpower to defeat her while she was under Eon's control. You must believe, its what led you to save her," it said.
"Rest, you earned it. Now then, I'm going to make you pay for every crime you've committed, your highness," I said.
She retreats back to the throne. "Hardly, you can barely stand. Why don't you just give up. You can't win," she said.
"You think. See, when I first activated the Burst Mode. I master the power and control aspects, but now. I'm starting to understand more about the balance aspect. Its about belief and the people who believe in you. I will never give up," I said.
I then fully mastered the Burst Mode as Legion gets up, he is amazed. "Unbelievable, you did it. You're in for it now, your highness," Legion said.
"Legion, get everyone out of here. I'll buy some time. Just get back to our Earth. I'll join you soon," I said.
Legion and the others escaped the throne room. In the hallway, the Mighty Rider encounters them. "What happened in there? And what's Deviation doing here?" he asked.
"It's a long story, but I'll explain once we get out of here," Legion answered.
"We secured transportation. Hyperion, we're ready to teleport onboard," he said.
They teleported onboard the Hyperion. Solaris gets up as she notices Deviation onboard. "What the heck is that thing doing here? You better throw off the Hyperion," Solaris said.
"Cool your jets, this guy save Julie. Besides, he earned a free ride back to our Earth," Carter answered.
"It better be worth it," Solaris said.
"I'll get him over to maintenance," the Mighty Rider said.
He and Deviation head over to the maintenance area. "Where's Ben?" Dr. Nexus notices the look on Legion's face. "You got to be kidding. We better turn back and get him," Dr. Nexus said.
"Phoebe, how long do we have before implosion?" Blake asked.
"We have six minutes left to implosion," Phoebe answered.
"We've re-established communication channels. Eli, this is Solaris, we're making our escape and tell our allies to watch where they shoot. We commandeered the Hyperion," she said.
"Wow, that's unexpected. Can you lot care to explain why a green portal just opened up by itself?" Eli asked.
"Trust us, its part of the plan," he answered.
"Now then, lets a get portal open up," the Mighty Rider said.
Solaris presses a button on the console to open a Universal Gate portal. They flew into the portal and back to their Earth.
In the throne room, I was surrounded, outnumbered a hundred against one. "Do you really think a light show can stop us?" the Empress asked.
"I won't know until I try." The remaining Elder Ones launched their attack, but I fought them. They all fell. "Wow, this is what Burst Mode feels like when it reaches its full potential," I said.
"Big deal, I fought over a dozen Light and Dark Gods during my day. I'll show you potential," Seth said.
I then fought Seth, who proved to be a tougher opponent than the other Elder Ones. I can see why Legion struggled against on Galvan Prime. I kept on dodging each of his attacks until a opportunity comes. He made a mistake and I took advantage of it. I counter his attack and threw him across the room. I fired a energy blast, killing him in a instant. "And that's for Legion and everyone you manipulated into doing your bidding," I said.
The Empress then becomes outraged. "You defeat my most loyal subject. I haven't felt loss since Dark Sai murdered my late husband. And for that, you'll pay with your life! Stand aside, I got this," the Empress said.
"Finally," I said. We then began to fight.
Back on my Earth, the Hyperion arrives just in time as they saw a warzone in the sky. On the bridge, Solaris steers the helm into the skyline. "I'm getting multiple reports from all over the galaxy. It looks like the coalition forces are making a final push to recapture Galvan Prime. Also, we have four minutes left until implosion," Phoebe said.
Dr. Nexus then senses something. "Oh no, Ben has engaged the Empress in a fight. This is it," Dr. Nexus said.
"I can sense it too. It won't be long until the fall of the Elder Ones," Legion said.
Back on Earth Prime, I still engaged the Empress in a fight. "Why do you persist to defeat me? Surely you understand the cost of achieving peace," she said.
"At what cost? The cost of a trillion lives and a billion Earths. I don't think so." We crashed through the castle wall and landed onto the street where we carried on fighting. "This cannot go on forever," I said.
"I will make sure you and every being on your multiverse will fall." She then senses something is not right. "What's that noise I hear beeping? Its coming from the lab. The Star, send every Elder One to the lab and find out what's going on," she said.
"Minutes later and you still haven't figured it out. You lot are finished, its over," I said.
I then get up and the Empress becomes infuriated. "What have you done?" she asked.
My Empress, we got a situation. The Star is about to implode. If we don't shut it off, the blast will wipe out Argon City.
Shut it down at once. "I will make you suffer," the Empress said.
She kept onto throwing punches, I kept on dodging them until I caught one of them and threw her back to the ground. "Any minute now," I said.
We can't shut down the Star and the systems aren't responding.
A huge energy wave appeared and it engulfed the entire planet. The other Elder Ones began to notice changes within themselves as they began to explode. The Empress witnessed what's happening to her people and she becomes outrage. "What have you done?" she yelled.
"You see, King Zale knew you were a lost cause. So he devised a plan in case if you lot returned. He used the one thing that kept you prisoner and turned into the weapon. What you witnessed was a implosion designed to wipe your race. Well, not everyone, luckily you got spared," I answered.
She then begins to cry over the loss of her people. I then walked away, but she tries to attack me in anger. But I intercepted it and I threw her to the ground. "Why? Why did you do it? Why did you destroy my race?" she asked.
"I only found out about the Star's secondary purpose while I was on another parallel Earth. Look, I would try to find a peaceful solution to some problems. But you forced our hands the moment you lot start destroy universes to restore Earth Prime," I answered.
She then smiles at the brink of death. "You've think you won. The truth is, you lost the moment you defeated. I arranged a policy you humans call it. I ordered my soldiers to plant a bomb right at Earth Prime's core. To make matters worse, my heart is the triggering device. You lose," she said.
She then dies, after a while, I heard a explosion and it set off a huge tremor. I fled the scene and head back to the portal. "Guys, we got a situation," I said.
"One minute we were jumping in joy, the next strange weather patterns and tremors appeared out of the blue. What gives?" Blake asked over the radio.
"The Empress was one step ahead of us. She planted a bomb right at Earth Prime's core. It's been detonated. I'm heading back now," I said.
Back on out Earth, Legion realises what's going on and everyone notices the look on his. "Well, are you going to fill us in, Legion?" Kevin asked.
"If Earth Prime is destroyed, everything, including us will be destroyed. Earth Prime is the source of everything," he answered.
"Nothing is never that simple," Gwen said.
"No its not," he said.
Back on Earth Prime, as I arrived near the portal, I began to think and I experienced a flashback to the time when I was training with Legion on Tao. After a session, we played a game of chess where Legion sacrificed one of his pawns to protect his king.
"That's typical of you. Sacrificing your pawns like that. Shouldn't you be capturing my king instead of protecting yours?" I asked.
"There's a lesson to be learned here. Imagine the multiverse as a chess game, the pawns are your ideals and who do you think the king will be?" he asked.
"I don't know, the people I care and protect," I answered.
"Not just the people, but every living creature throughout the multiverses. They're what's most important. Sometimes you need to sacrifice your life in order to protect the things you care about, not just your planet. I know its the hardest lesson, but sometimes you got to learn it in order to understand what being a hero means," Legion said.
Back in the present, I stopped for a moment and thought. I remember Azmuth mentioned that Burst Mode is like being a god. I wonder if its possible to use the Burst Mode to stabilise the planet's core. I left the area and flew into the planet's core.
Back on my Earth, Legion senses something is wrong. "Ben, what're you doing?" he asked.
You once said that the Burst Mode grants me godlike, so I'm putting it to the test. I'm heading to the planet's core.
At Earth Prime's core, the core lid up like a Christmas tree when I arrived. There's got to be another way, Ben. Return to our Earth so we can come up with a new plan.
"If we do, there won't be a multiverse left or any of them. I'm planning to use the Burst Mode to repair the damage. Hopefully it should stabilise the planet and every multiverse out there," I said.
What your suggesting is suicide. Are you willing to die for everything and everyone?
"I am. Its like you said back on Tao. Sometimes you need to sacrifice your life in order to save the people I care about. My life may not be perfect, but at least this last act should get me on everyone's good graces," I said.
You'll die!
"I know, tell everyone I'm sorry. I won't be coming home. Well, here goes," I said.
I used all of the Burst Mode to reignite the planet's core. During that time, my life flashed before my eyes. I recalled every moment, birthdays, memories and every mistake I made. I recall some of the tough decisions I've made along the way. Those decisions cost me a lot. I broke up with Julie, my cousin and Kevin moved on and everyone I knew moved on.
Not all of it wasn't tragic, along the way, I learned I wasn't alone. There were other heroes like me and I fought alongside them. I begin to feel tired and exhausted. I'm nearly at the end, the planet's core is revived and the multiverses are intact. I look at my hand and I noticed I'm going through some changes. My body begins to disintegrate, along with the Omnitrix. At least I led a good life.
Legion falls to his knees and cries. "What is it, Legion?" Dr. Nexus asked.
"Ben's dead," he answered.